THE daughter of a legendary local footballer will collect a certificate in his honour this weekend.
George Robledo was the first overseas star of English football, the Chilean-born striker who was raised in West Melton, lit up the domestic game during the post-Second World War years with his record-breaking exploits playing for Barnsley and Newcastle United.
Now, on the centenary of his birth, the Football Association (FA) is both commemorating and celebrating the pioneering achievements of George as this year’s FA Cup competition builds towards its finale.
Born in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth, on April 14, 1926, Robledo moved back to Yorkshire with his mother and two brothers during the 1930s, working in the coal mines during the Second World War as a teenage ‘Bevin Boy’.
After the war, Robledo’s talismanic performances for Barnsley earned him a transfer to Newcastle United where he twice won the FA Cup, becoming the first overseas player to score in an FA Cup final by heading the winner against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium in 1952.
Tomorrow at Wembley Stadium, FA chair Debbie Hewitt will present a commemorative certificate listing Robledo’s many achievements in the English game to his daughter and only child, Elizabeth Robledo, prior to the FA Cup semi-final between Manchester City and Southampton.
“Even though he was born in Chile and played international football for Chile, my father was so proud of the fact that he grew up in Yorkshire and started his career with Barnsley,” said Elizabeth.
“He always said his happiest years were those spent playing for Newcastle.
“That’s why I’m so grateful that the Football Association has decided to acknowledge my beloved father’s achievements in England on the centenary of his birth.
“For dad, England and Britain never went away - it was always in his heart.
“He was so happy in Chile, definitely, but a bit of him never really left England.”
Liz will then embark on a three-week tour of England alongside George’s biographer, Spencer Vignes, author of the book Postcards From Santiago.
They will visit places around England which were important to her father, including Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Barnsley from May 6 to May 10 prior to attending the FA Cup final on May 16 as special guests of the FA.
“George was a pioneer in the world of sport,” added Spencer, who spent two years researching and writing Postcards From Santiago.
“Today, nearly three-quarters of all the players in the Premier League come from overseas.
“In many ways it was George who opened the door to them.
“Long before the likes of Erling Haaland, Thierry Henry and Eric Cantona, there was George.
“Sadly George has become something of a forgotten figure in his adopted homeland, although there are those of a certain age, particularly in Yorkshire and north-east England, who still remember him fondly.
“That’s why this lovely gesture by the FA is so welcome and important.”
